Technical Field
The present invention relates to an electrode that comprises a nanostructured material based on pyrolyzed date palm leaves that are obtained from a pyrolysis of an agro-waste, an electrochemical cell thereof, and a method of determining a hydroquinone concentration in a hydroquinone-containing solution.
Description of the Related Art
The “background” description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present invention.
Carbon materials are widely used in various applications such as adsorbing heavy metals and environmental pollutants, filtering water, manufacturing catalyst materials, manufacturing pharmaceutical, manufacturing inks and toners, etc. Therefore, producing carbon materials from inexpensive sources, particularly from biomass/agro-waste sources, is an important aspect to reduce manufacturing cost of the final products produced from carbon materials [Li H-Y, Chen H-Z, Xu W-J, Yuan F, Wang J-R, Wang M, (2005) Polymer-encapsulated hydrophilic carbon black nanoparticles free from aggregation, Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects, 254: 173-178; M. S. Islam, M. A. Rouf, (2012) Waste biomass as sources for activated carbon production-A review, Bangladesh J. Sci. Ind. Res., 47: 347-364; Alkhati A J, Zailaey K A, (2015) Medical and environmental applications of activated charcoal: review article, European scientific journal, 11: 50-56; Tan J S, Ani F N, (2004) Carbon molecular sieves produced from oil palm shell for air separation, Separation and Purification Technology, 35: 47-54; Ahmad T, Danish M, Rafatullah M, Ghazali A, Sulaiman O, Hashim R, Ibrahim M N M, (2012) The use of date palm as a potential adsorbent for wastewater treatment: a review, Environ Sci. Pollut. Res 19: 1464-1484]. Carbon materials are widely used as adsorbents, catalysts, and catalyst supports [M. S. Islam, M. A. Rouf, (2012) Waste biomass as sources for activated carbon production-A review, Bangladesh J. Sci. Ind. Res., 47: 347-364; Meryemoglu B, Irmak S, Hasanoglu A, (2016) Fuel Processing Technology, 151: 59-63; Tsoncheva T, Genova I, Stoycheva I, Spassova I, Ivanova R, Tsyntsarski B, Issa G, Kovacheva D, Petrov, (2015) Activated carbon from waste biomass as catalyst support: formation of active phase in copper and cobalt catalysts for methanol decomposition, J. Porous Mater, 22: 1127-1136; Azargohar R, (2009) Production of activated carbon and its catalytic application for oxidation of hydrogen sulfide, A PhD Thesis in in the department of chemical engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan]. In addition, carbon materials are widely used in the composition of electrodes in electrochemical sensors, capacitors, fuel cells, and solar cells, etc. [Abioye A M, Ani F N, (2015) Recent development in the production of activated carbon electrodes from agricultural waste biomass for supercapacitors: A review, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 52: 1282-1293; Veeramani V, Madhu R, Chen S-M, Lou B-S, Palanisamy J, Vasanth V S, (2015) Biomass-derived functional porous carbons as novel electrode material for the practical detection of biomolecules in human serum and snail hemolymph Scientific Reports, 5: 10141, DOI: 10.1038/srep10141; Awitdrus, Deraman M, Talib I A, Farma R, Omar R, Ishak M M, Taer E, M. Dolah B N, Basri N H, Nor N S M, (2015) Physical and electrochemical properties of supercapacitor composite electrodes prepared from biomass carbon and carbon from green petroleum coke, The 5th Asian Physics Symposium (APS 2012), AIP Conf. Proc. 1656, 030007-1-030007-5, doi: 10.1063/1.4917096; Huang Y, Peng L, Liu Y, Zhao G, Chen J Y, Yu G, (2016) Bio-based Nano Porous Active Carbon Fibers for High-Performance Supercapacitors, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 8: 15205-15215; Mondal A K, Kretschmer K, Zhao Y, Liu H, Wang C, Sun B, Wang G, Nitrogen doped porous carbon nanosheets from eco-friendly eucalyptus leaves as high performance electrode materials for supercapacitors and lithium ion batteries, DOI: 10.1002/chem.201605019; Taer E, Deraman M, Talib I A, Awitdrus A, Hashmi S A, Umar A A, (2011) Preparation of a highly porous binder-less activated carbon monolith from rubber wood sawdust by a multi-step activation process for application in supercapacitors, Int. J. Electrochem. Sci., 6: 3301-3315; Xing L, Ma Z, (2016) A glassy carbon electrode modified with a nanocomposite consisting of MoS2 and reduced graphene oxide for electrochemical simultaneous determination of ascorbic acid, dopamine, and uric acid, Microchim. Acta 183: 257-263; Chen J, He P, Bai H, Lei H, Zhang G, Dong F, Ma Y, (2016) A glassy carbon electrode modified with a nanocomposite consisting of carbon nano-horns and poly(2-aminopyridine) for non-enzymatic amperometric determination of hydrogen peroxide Microchim. Acta, 183: 3237-3242; Aziz M A, Yang H, (2007) Electro-chemical immunosensor using the modification of an amine-functionalized indium tin oxide electrode with carboxylated single-walled carbon nanotubes, Bull. Korean Chem. Soc., 28: 1171-1174; Zhang J, Zhong Z, Shen D, Zhao J, Zhang H, Yang M, Li W, (2011) Preparation of bamboo-based activated carbon and its application in direct carbon fuel cells, Energy Fuels, 25: 2187-2193]. These carbon materials are generally produced in the form of carbon nanoparticles/nanomaterials, e.g. carbon nanotubes, graphene nanoparticles, glassy carbon nano/microspheres, etc. because carbon nanoparticles possess a higher specific surface area than regular carbon materials, whereas the advantageous electrical and thermal conductivities and electrocatalytic and capacitive properties are retained. Several researchers have investigated the incorporation of carbon nanoparticles to working electrodes of electrochemical cells to modify the cell efficiency. However, incorporating (or adhering) carbon nanoparticles to the electrodes generally require the presence of an adhesive materials that hinders the electroactive surface of the electrode, and thus degrades electrochemical properties and cell efficiency [Taer E, Deraman M, Talib I A, Awitdrus A, Hashmi S A, Umar A A, (2011) Preparation of a highly porous binder-less activated carbon monolith from rubber wood sawdust by a multi-step activation process for application in supercapacitors, Int. J. Electrochem. Sci., 6: 3301-3315; Aziz M A, Yang H, (2007) Electro-chemical immunosensor using the modification of an amine-functionalized indium tin oxide electrode with carboxylated single-walled carbon nanotubes, Bull. Korean Chem. Soc., 28: 1171-1174]. In addition, producing carbon nanoparticles and adhering them onto an electrode substrate is generally an expensive process, particularly when the manufacturing cost is added to the cost of the electrode substrate, which is generally made from platinum, gold, palladium, and glassy carbon materials.
Micro/nanostructured carbon materials are widely produced from various types of biomass/agro-waste such as grass, coconuts, and/or rice husks by pyrolysis of the biomass followed by hydrothermal methods [M. S. Islam, M. A. Rouf, (2012) Waste biomass as sources for activated carbon production-A review, Bangladesh J. Sci. Ind. Res., 47: 347-364; Tan J S, Ani F N, (2004) Carbon molecular sieves produced from oil palm shell for air separation, Separation and Purification Technology, 35: 47-54; Ahmad T, Danish M, Rafatullah M, Ghazali A, Sulaiman O, Hashim R, Ibrahim M N M, (2012) The use of date palm as a potential adsorbent for wastewater treatment: a review, Environ Sci. Pollut. Res 19: 1464-1484; Meryemoglu B, Irmak S, Hasanoglu A, (2016) Fuel Processing Technology, 151: 59-63; Abioye A M, Ani F N, (2015) Recent development in the production of activated carbon electrodes from agricultural waste biomass for supercapacitors: A review, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 52: 1282-1293; Veeramani V, Madhu R, Chen S-M, Lou B-S, Palanisamy J, Vasanth V S, (2015) Biomass-derived functional porous carbons as novel electrode material for the practical detection of biomolecules in human serum and snail hemolymph Scientific Reports, 5: 10141, DOI: 10.1038/srep10141; Awitdrus, Deraman M, Talib I A, Farmina R, Omar R, Ishak M M, Taer E, M. Dolah B N, Basri N H, Nor N S M, (2015) Physical and electrochemical properties of supercapacitor composite electrodes prepared from biomass carbon and carbon from green petroleum coke, The 5th Asian Physics Symposium (APS 2012), AIP Conf. Proc. 1656, 030007-1-030007-5, doi: 10.1063/1.4917096; Huang Y, Peng L, Liu Y, Zhao G, Chen J Y, Yu G, (2016) Bio-based Nano Porous Active Carbon Fibers for High-Performance Supercapacitors, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 8: 15205-15215; Mondal A K, Kretschmer K, Zhao Y, Liu H, Wang C, Sun B, Wang G, Nitrogen doped porous carbon nanosheets from eco-friendly eucalyptus leaves as high performance electrode materials for supercapacitors and lithium ion batteries, DOI: 10.1002/chem.201605019; Taer E, Deraman M, Talib I A, Awitdrus A, Hashmi S A, Umar A A, (2011) Preparation of a highly porous binder-less activated carbon monolith from rubber wood sawdust by a multi-step activation process for application in supercapacitors, Int. J. Electrochem. Sci., 6: 3301-3315; Zhang J, Zhong Z, Shen D, Zhao J, Zhang H, Yang M, Li W, (2011) Preparation of bamboo-based activated carbon and its application in direct carbon fuel cells, Energy Fuels, 25: 2187-2193; Nagaraju G, Lim J H, Cha S M, Yu J S, (2016) Three-dimensional Activated Porous Carbon with Meso/Macropore Structures Derived from Fallen Pine Cone Flowers: A Low-cost Counter Electrode Material in Dye-sensitized Solar Cells, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2016.10.015; Abioye A M, Ani F N, (2015) Recent development in the production of activated carbon electrodes from agricultural waste biomass for supercapacitors: A review, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 52: 1282-1293; Kang Z, Wang E, Mao B, Su Z, Chen L, Xu L, (2005) Obtaining carbon nanotubes from grass, Nanotechnology, 16: 1192-1195; Islam M A, Tan I A W, Benhouria A, Asif M, Hameed B H, (2015) Mesoporous and adsorptive properties of palm date seed activated carbon prepared via sequential hydrothermal carbonization and sodium hydroxide activation, Chemical Engineering Journal, 270: 187-195; Shoaib M, Hassan M, Al-Swaidan (2014) Effect of CO2 Flow Rate on the Synthesis of Sliced Activated Carbon from Date Palm Tree Fronds (Agro-waste) by Physical Activation, Asian Journal of Chemistry, 26: 7025-7028; Alaya M N, B. S. Girgis, MOURAD W E, (2000) Activated Carbon from Some Agricultural Wastes Under Action of One-Step Steam Pyrolysis, Journal of Porous Materials, 7: 509-517; Flexer V, Donose B C, Lefebvre C, Pozo G, Boone M N, Hoorebeke L V, Baccour M, Bonnet L, Calas-Etienne S, Galarneau A, Titirici M M, Brun N, (2016) Microcellular Electrode Material for Microbial Bioelectrochemical Systems Synthesized by Hydrothermal Carbonization of Biomass Derived Precursors, ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng., 4: 2508-2516; Gao Z, Zhang Y, Song N, Li X, (2016) Biomass-derived renewable carbon materials for electrochemical energy storage, Mater. Res. Lett., doi:10.1080/21663831.2016.1250834; Ruan G, Sun Z, Peng Z, Tour J M, (2011) Growth of Graphene from Food Insects and Waste, ACS Nano, 5: 7601-7607; Saqib Shams S, Zhang L S, Hu R, Zhang R, Zhu J, (2015) Synthesis of graphene from biomass: A green chemistry approach, Materials Letters, 161: 476-479]. In some other investigations, agricultural waste biomass has been used to produce carbonaceous materials for adsorbing environmental pollutants [Ahmad T, Danish M, Rafatullah M, Ghazali A, Sulaiman O, Hashim R, Ibrahim M N M, (2012) The use of date palm as a potential adsorbent for wastewater treatment: a review, Environ Sci. Pollut. Res 19: 1464-1484; Islam M A, Tan I A W, Benhouria A, Asif M, Hameed B H, (2015) Mesoporous and adsorptive properties of palm date seed activated carbon prepared via sequential hydrothermal carbonization and sodium hydroxide activation, Chemical Engineering Journal, 270: 187-195; Shoaib M, Hassan M, Al-Swaidan (2014) Effect of CO2 Flow Rate on the Synthesis of Sliced Activated Carbon from Date Palm Tree Fronds (Agro-waste) by Physical Activation, Asian Journal of Chemistry, 26: 7025-7028; Alaya M N, B. S. Girgis, MOURAD W E, (2000) Activated Carbon from Some Agricultural Wastes Under Action of One-Step Steam Pyrolysis, Journal of Porous Materials, 7: 509-517].
The agro-waste of date palm trees is very inexpensive, due to a large population of date palm trees particularly in tropical countries. However the carbon materials obtained from agro-waste is typically too irregularly structured and/or of incorrect/inconsistent particle size for effective use as an electrode material.
In view of the forgoing, one objective of the present disclosure is to provide an electrode that comprises a nanostructured material that includes pyrolyzed date palm leaves that are obtained from a pyrolysis of an agro-waste containing date palm leaves in an inert gas and in a temperature range of 800 to 1600° C. and which can effectively function without a separate substrate layer. Another objective of the present disclosure is to provide an electrochemical cell that utilizes the electrode as a working electrode. The present disclosure further relates to a method of determining a hydroquinone concentration in a hydroquinone-containing solution with the electrochemical cell.